Conventionally, a recliner chair will move from an upright position, in which the backrest is generally upright, to one or more reclined positions, in which the backrest pivots to be less upright. The movement of the seating unit between the upright and reclined positions is typically controlled by a pair of synchronized reclining mechanisms that are attached to the seat, backrest and base of the chair. Many recliners will have an extendable footrest or ottoman that provides support for the occupant's feet in the reclined position.
One particularly popular recliner is the “three-way” recliner, which has two reclined positions: an intermediate “TV position”, in which the footrest or ottoman of the chair is projected forwardly from the chair while the backrest remains substantially upright relative to the seat; and a “fully reclined position”, in which the backrest is less upright (i.e., it has been reclined to a shallower angle relative to the floor). In a “three-way” recliner, the backrest pivots relative to the seat as the chair takes its fully reclined position; this differs from a “two-way” recliner, in which the backrest and seat are rigidly fixed and do not pivot relative to one another as the chair moves to the fully reclined position, and from a “one-way” recliner, which typically has no intermediate “TV” position.
One recliner chair feature that has become popular in some models is a headrest that is retracted when the recliner chair is in its upright position and extends when the reclining chair moves to a reclined position. Such a headrest can provide support for the occupant's head, which may increase comfort for a reclining occupant, particularly in chairs in which styling demands a relatively low backrest. An exemplary headrest is described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,277 to Holobaugh et al. The chair illustrated therein includes a headrest that is generally horizontally disposed atop the backrest when the chair is in the upright position and generally vertically disposed above the backrest when the chair is in a reclined position. A headrest that folds within a cavity in the rear surface of the backrest, then inverts as it extends, is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,652,125 to Rogers. The disclosures of each of these patents are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
As chair styling continues to evolve, it may be desirable to provide additional headrest configurations, particularly for certain types of chairs for which styling concerns dictate the size and shape of the backrest.